Panchkula, February 25
In the infamous Samjhauta blast case, the guard of the train deposed before the special National Investigating Agency (NIA) court in Panchkula here today.

Ram Dhann, the guard, told the court that he was the first to see the fire coming out of the bogies when the blast took place.

Yesterday, the court was informed that one of the three witnesses, the driver of the train Kiran Dewan, is dead.

In the wee hours of February 19, 2007, as many as 68 persons, mostly Pakistan nationals, were killed when blasts took place in two bogies of the Samjhauta Express, a peace train, at Diwana village near the industrial town of Panipat. The train was going from Delhi to Attari, the last station on the Indian side. The passengers were to board the train to Lahore in Pakistan the next day.

In its chargesheet, the NIA had stated that many Hindu activists had hatched a conspiracy to blow up the train following which four were arrested, including self-styled godman Swami Aseemanand.

Chandigarh, February 25
Constable Anil Kumar, who has been facing charges of molestation and criminal intimidation in the Khuda Lahora rape case, filed a bail application in the court here today.

In the sensational rape case of a minor girl involving five UT police constables as the accused, the UT police had filed a detailed chargesheet in the court on February 21. Two of the accused were charged with rape while the remaining three were charged with criminal conspiracy, threatening and molesting the victim.

The court has issued a notice to the police to file a reply on Kumar's bail application. — TNS

Mohali, February 25
The Mohali Police have booked a person for raping a minor girl living in the neighbourhood at Kansal village here today.

The accused, identified as Ramu, has been absconding after the incident that had occurred on February 22.

The father of the victim said his 13-year-old daughter had gone to answer the nature's call at around 11pm on that day. He alleged that when she did not return, the family had started searching her and found her in the house of the accused. The victim narrated the incident to her family.

The police has registered a case in this regard against Ramu at the Naya Gaon Police Station.

Chandigarh, February 25
The UT police have arrested two persons for abducting two girls, aged about 17 and 19 years, from Sector 37 here on Sunday.

The accused were identified as Harpreet Singh and Karan Chopra, both residents of Sector 37.

During interrogation, the accused confessed to have taken the two girls to Kasauli.

On Sunday night, the police had received a complaint that the two girls had been abducted by unidentified persons. On receiving the complaint, the police team had put the mobile numbers of the victims on surveillance and the location of the numbers was traced to Kasauli. A police team was sent to Kasauli and both the girls were recovered. The two accused were also arrested. — TNS

Mohali, February 25
A young married woman allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself from a ceiling fan at her husband's residence in Sunny Enclave, Kharar, here.

The victim, identified as Dalbir Kaur, was in her mid-twenties and had got married to Sanjiv Kumar recently. The police said a suicide note was found from the spot and the SIM card of the victim's mobile phone had been seized. Dalbir's father Ram Singh lodged a complaint against Sanjiv, his father Kabal Singh and his mother alleging that his daughter was being harassed by them. A case has been registered against the trio. — TNS

Chandigarh, February 25
Two youths were arrested by the UT police today for allegedly cheating a person by offering him fake currency notes worth Rs 1 lakh in lieu of Rs 5,000.

The accused identified as Aftab and Dhanraj Singh, both natives of Bihar, had met Kamlesh Pandey when he was going to deposit money in a bank at Sector 22.

“The accused told Pandey that they had stolen Rs 1 lakh from someone in the city. They offered him the amount in lieu of Rs 5,000,” said the police.

When Pandey asked the duo to show him the money, the accused gave him a bundle of Rs 1 lakh in denomination of Rs 500, said the police.

However, when Pandey checked the bundle, only one currency note was original, while the others were counterfeit.

Pandey contacted the police and lodged a complaint against the duo.

The police are investigating.

Chandigarh, February 25
Ko Suzuki defeated eighth seed VM Ranjeet during a match of the ongoing DLF-ITF Men’s Futures International ($ 10,000) Tennis Tournament at the CLTA courts in Sector 10, here today.

The encounter lasted for two hours and 45 minutes. In the first set, Ranjeet Virali Murugesan registered an easy 1-6 victory. Suzuki bounced back in the second set and sealed the set in his favor at 6-1. Continuing with his pace, Suzuki registered win 6-4 in the final set.

In the other match, top seed Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan defeated Abhijeet Tiwari in straight sets. Abhijeet broke Jeevan’s serve in the first game and took a 3-1 lead. In the next five games, however, Jeevan emerged victorious.

Second seed Sanam Singh and Jui Chen Hung of Tie Pei clashed in the next match. The game went in favour of the Indian player Sanam. He won the first set against Hung 6-2. After a long battle, Sanam managed to win the set 7-5.

Qualifier Kunal Anand beat Jatin Dahiya by conceding two games. Qualifier Garvit Batra defeated CHART trainee Ranjeet Singh. The fourth seed Antal Van Der Duim of Netherlands also moved to the pre-quarters.

The pre-quarter matches of singles and quarterfinals doubles will be held tomorrow.

Results

Main draw singles:

First round-Jeevan Nedunchezhiyan bt Abhijeet Tiwari 6-3, 6-4, Vishnu Vardhan bt Mohit Mayur Jayaprakash 4-6, 6-3, 6-4, Ronit Singh Bisht bt Ashwin Vijayragavan 6-4, 6-7(3), 6-4, Kunal Anand bt Jatin Dahiya 6-1, 6-1, Sanam Singh bt Jui Chen Hung 6-2, 7-5, Mathias Bourgue bt Shotaro Goto 7-6 (6), 6-1, Sasi Kumar Mukund bt Anvit Bendre 6-1, 6-1, N Vijay Sundera Prashanth bt Bumpei Sato 7-5, 7-6(4), Ko Suzuki bt Ranjeet Virali Murugesan 1-6, 6-1, 6-4, Garvit Batra bt Ranjeet Singh 6-1, 6-0, Antal Van Der Duim bt Tejas Chaukulkar 6-1, 6-1.

Chandigarh, February 25
An inspiration for young upcoming players, international tennis player Sanam Singh is an epitome of invincibility and poise. In his hometown to play for the ITF Men’s International Tournament, the 26-year-old believes being optimistic is the key to success. “If I don’t let distractions hamper my concentration, I am sure life has too many opportunities to offer. I am hopeful and determined to give my best shot,” says the ace player.

“I look forward to playing on my home soil. Playing at the CLTA encourages me to give my best ever as I have spent a lot of time here,” says the talented player.

Sanam says injury may have affected his performance last year but now he is back on track. “Rise and fall is the way it works. A lean patch in my career can not affect my confidence in any way. A player’s main motive is to put his best foot forward in each match. The tours and various tournaments that I have participated in have definitely taught me a lot. Hopefully, the learning will be for people to see in the upcoming tournaments. I have really worked hard,” says Sanam.

A member of the Davis Cup squad, Sanam has already caught the eye of selectors with his passion and dedication towards the game.

“After the ITF tournament, I am planning to play a couple of more tournaments. In the recent past, my performance has been good but somehow I have not been able to end the game on a satisfactory note. The recent Delhi ATP Challenger provided me with a good learning platform. I like to move ahead with a positive frame of mind,” says the hard working player.

With players such as Leander Paes and Mahesh Bhupati, the local lad says he does not feel the pressure at all. “Senior players play an important role in shaping our career. The juniors should in fact carry forward their legacy. The new lot such as Somdev, Yuki and Rohan are also performing exceptionally well,” said the budding star. 

I look forward to playing on my home soil. Playing at the CLTA encourages me to give my best ever as I have spent a lot of time here. The tours and various tournaments that I have participated in have definitely taught me a lot. Hopefully, the learning will be for people to see in the upcoming tournaments. After the ITF tournament, I am planning to play a couple of more tournaments.
—Sanam Singh, international tennis player

Chandigarh, February 25
Pranya Media, a local organisation, conducted a felicitation ceremony to honor local sportspersons with the Major Dhyan Chand Sports Award at Bal Bhawan, Sector 23, here today.

Shooter Anjum Moudgil, former skipper of Indian football team Harjinder Singh, skater Vidhushi Rawat, Mukesh Kumar, paralympics table tennis player, athlete Divyanshi and hockey player Imran Khan were given mementoes during the function. 

Chandigarh, February 25
The Netball Association of Chandigarh has selected local netball teams of men and women for the 31st Senior National Netball Championship.

The national championship will be held at Patliputra Sports Complex in Patna (Bihar) from March 1 to 4.

Both the netball teams were selected during a coaching camp at Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26.

Names of the members

Men:Ajay, Harinder Singh, Parveen, Karandeep (Sri Guru Gobind Singh College, Sector 26), Vijay, Anil (DAV College, Sector 10), Sahil Samdhian, Gourav Malik (Panjab University), Abhimanyu (SD College, Sector 32), Vinay (Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 45), Deepak (Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 46) and Dilbag Singh (Government Model Senior Secondary School-19)

Women:Anisha Negi, Sweety, Manju, Meenu (Government College for Girls, Sector 11), Gaganpreet, (Post Graduate
Government College, Sector 11), Kirti, Gul Walia, Payal Rawat (Guru Gobind Singh College for Women, Sector 26), Gagandeep Kaur, Navneet (Panjab University, Sector 14), Richa Sharma, Hareetinder Gill (Government Model Senior Secondary School, Sector 23)

Chandigarh, February 25
Ayan Khan and Saumya Singh from Uttar Pradesh defeated local players Akshay Jasrotiya and Muskan Sohi in a match during the ongoing 23rd Smt Krishna Khaitan All-India Junior Ranking Badminton Tournament at the badminton hall, Panjab University, here today.

The top-seeded pair defeated the local contenders 21-14, 18-21 and 21-17. In the boys’ (Under-17) event, Haryana’s Kartik Jindal defeated Qadeer Moinuddin Mohammed of Andhra Pradesh, 21-8 and 21-7, while Tarun Gakhad from Haryana beat Shivam Rishi of Chandigarh, 21-7 and 21-11.

Results

Boys (Under-17)-Chirag Sen bt Saad Ali Syed 21-16, 21-15, Aniruddha Mayekar bt Shaurya Madaan 21-12, 21-3, Kartikey Gulshan Kumar bt Tapas Shukla 21-17, 21-15, Mukesh Ravi Kakara bt Veda Vyas Sai Anumula 21-19, 21-18, Siril Varma bt Amit Bansal 21-8, 21-13, Kevin Arokia Walter bt Ishaan Kumar 21-11, 23-21, Kartik Jindal bt Qadeer Moinuddin Mohammed 21-8, 21-7, Nishchay Jaiswal bt Sukrut Baporikar 21-17, 21-11, Rahul Yadav C bt Rahul Bhardhvaj BM 21-19, 21-12, Arjun Gupta bt Aakash Trikha 21-10, 21-16, Harsh Jagdhane bt Lalit Dahiya 21-17, 21-7, Sparsh Srivastava bt Kelvin Wong 21-11, 21-18, Kaustubh Rawat bt Amit Verma 21-11, 21-15, Kiran George, KER, bt Mahendra Kumar, UP, 21-15, 15-21, 21-11, Arya Bhivpathaki bt Abhyansh Singh 17-21, 21-19, 21-12, Arintap Dasgupta bt Aman Farogh 21-8, 21-13, Tarun Gakhad bt Shivam Rishi 21-7, 21-11, Chandra Kumar D bt Sanjai Srivatsa D 22-20, 21-14, Shubham Kumar bt Adithya Bapineedu 25-23, 21-19, Sai Dinesh Reddy bt Saurav Das 21-10, 22-20, Jagadeesh K bt Divum Gupta 21-10, 21-9, Sayam Bothra bt Arunanshu Patra 21-15, 13-21, 21-12, Bodhit Joshi bt Hardik Makkar 20-22, 21-14, 21-12, Rishabh Deshpande bt Rituraj Choudhary 21-18, 21-19, Mithun M bt Yaman Rathore 21-13, 21-6, Arjun Sachdeva bt Ishan Verma 21-16, 21-12, Siddharth Pratap Singh bt Pranay Aggarwal 21-7, 21-11, Swarnaraj Bora bt Rahul Patel 21-18, 21-12, Kanishq M bt Nishant Batra 21-12, 21-15

Girls (Under-17)-Shikha Gautam bt Surbhi Balvir 21-7, 21-9, Shalaka Sahasrabudhe bt Unnati Shrivastava 21-8, 21-3, Sai Uttejitha Rao bt Pooja Devlekar 21-19, 22-20, Anura Prabhudesai (8), GOA, bt Anamika Kashyap, DLI, 21-9, 21-15, Cherish D'Souza bt Pranavi Reddy K 21-11, 21-9, Dapasha Joshi bt Shivani Jaglan 21-6, 21-8, Manidipa Dey bt Kanak Rawat 21-10, 21-12, Kanika Kanwal bt Manisha Bhoria 21-9, 21-8, Mithula UK bt Akshita Bhandari 21-10, 21-16, Himanshi Rawat bt Garima Singh 21-10, 21-12, Vrushali G bt Romil Singh 21-11, 21-9, Ira Sharma bt Poorvi Singh 21-7, 21-13, Harika V bt Archana Pai 21-18, 21-9, Pranali Karani bt Radha Mundle 21-16, 21-19

Boys (Under-19)-Karan Rajan bt Arjun Sachdeva 21-11, 21-13

Girls (Under-19)-Revati Devasthale bt Ningshi Block Hazarika 21-16, 21-18, Mayuri Yadav bt Saumya Singh 21-14, 21-14, Diksha Choudhary bt Shruthi S 21-12, 28-26, Anshu Sharma bt Pranali Karani 19-21, 21-19, 21-14, Shikha Gautam bt Surbhi Balvir 21-8, 21-5, Radha Mundle bt Rahi Doshi 21-16, 18-21, 21-16, Tanishq M bt Muskan Sohi 15-21, 22-20, 21-13, Kanika Kanwal bt Riya Khatri 21-12, 21-9, Riya Mookerjee bt Sonika Sai P 21-5, 21-3, Ipsita Sinha bt Daaman Sharma 21-16, 21-10, Aditi Anand bt Pooja Devlekar 21-12, 21-7, Anoushka Parikh bt Mamitha Kadari 22-20, 21-10

Mixed doubles-Brijesh and Rupal bt Satish and Pranali 21-17, 14-21, 21-17, Ayan Khan and Saumya Singh bt Akshay and Muskan Sohi 21-14, 18-21, 21-17, Harinagu K and Pranavi Reddy K bt Sahil Jaibhagwan and Manisha Bhoria 21-12, 21-11, Gangadhara Rao V and Sonika Sai P bt Aakash Kumar Tomar and Ruby Singh 21-14, 21-15, Rohan Kapoor and Pooja D bt Akshay Ola and Divyanshi Rathore 21-11, 21-9, Rishabh Sahdev and Gauri Asija bt Deep Rambhiya and Radha Mundle 21-11, 21-10, Arjun MR and Ashna Roy bt Ritik Chahil and Unnati Shrivastava 21-5, 21-7, Satwik Sai Raj R and Ahillya Harjani bt Saneem Riaz and Shalini Shukla 21-7, 21-9, Mayank Ahuja and Shivani Santosh Singh bt Jitender and Ayushi Singh 21-11, 19-21, 21-7.